Indonesia’s Mangrove Ecosystem Needs All the Attention It Can Get

Sukristijono Sukardjo, Jakarta Globe 12 May 09;

In the Indian Ocean region, Indonesia owns the biggest mangrove ecosystem. The mangrove areas in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Irian Jaya provide a primary source of food for millions of coastal inhabitants, and they play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance.

Mangroves release large quantities of carbon and nutrients to support aquatic food chains, as well as provide nursery habitats for fish and shellfish species that are sold commercially. They also stabilize shorelines, reduce soil erosion and buffer against extreme weather conditions, thereby reducing the vulnerability of coastal communities and nearby infrastructure.

But mangroves are under increasing threat from competing resource users, particularly from tambak (brackish water fish pond) developers who have conflicting goals and limited understanding of the functions of mangrove ecosystems or their underlying potential.

Almost two million hectares of mangroves in Indonesia are reported to have been lost, or an astoundingly alarming rate of 160,000 hectares per year. The most serious threat to the country’s mangrove ecosystem is believed to be the clearing of mangroves for the development of artisanal ponds for fish and prawn culture. Other social and environmental problems along coastal zones also contribute to the decimation of the mangroves, as a result of extending shrimp ponds into mangrove areas or forces brought about by inclement weather.

The problem of mangrove-area conversion is most serious in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and has been a long-standing issue in Java. In the Aceh and South Sulawesi provinces, for instance, nearly 80 percent of the mangrove areas have paved the way for land conversion. Java, Bali, Sulawesi have lost at least half their mangrove forests in a little over 25 years. Along the Mahakam delta in East Kalimantan, irresponsible land developers have cut off large mangrove trees, while oil and other lethal chemicals from nearby oil fields have contaminated the mangrove ecosystem and affected millions of species.

Today, Mahakam faces not only the sad reality of these brazen attacks on its area, but also, ecologists say, a grim future that sees a barren, useless piece of land.

The country has been enduring this type of ecological crisis for several years now, but it is said that things will turn out worse this decade. I admit that I am fighting to save only a small fraction of Indonesian Borneo’s (or Kalimantan, which make up 70 percent of the Borneo Island) original grandeur. Still, I hope the awareness by those participating in the World Ocean Conference will address the country’s problem.

Mangrove forests have been systematically destroyed in the name of development. It has been frequently reported that the conversion of mangrove areas to shrimps ponds or tambak and other facilities represents the single largest threat to the mangrove ecosystem in the country.

The government has imposed partial bans on logging, cracked down on illegal loggers and raised timber royalties. History shows that this type of environmental rape can have far-reaching consequences. The deforestation of mangrove areas pose similar repercussions on the environment. It can lead to the salination of agricultural lands, as in the case in Indramayu in the northern coast of West Java. It can affect the amount of rainfall as well, because trees trap moisture and then re-evaporate it. Sadly, despite the warning signs, nobody seems to care.

The Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 is a prime example of how valuable mangroves can be. Reports from Aceh in North Sumatra and Nias suggest that the coastal communities protected by mangrove forests were damaged less compared to those that had a depleted mangrove ecosystem.

The encroachment of industries into the country’s mangroves is vividly illustrated in the map of Metro Jakarta. Over 42 years until 2002, the Jakarta coastal zone lost 1,102 hectares of mangrove forest, a deplorable loss given that mangroves are a natural heritage in the country’s capital.

Besides leaving a legacy to the city, mangroves in Jakarta serve a practical purpose: they prevent floods. The water level along the highway to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport rises quickly not only because of engineering problems, but also because of the depletion of mangrove areas along the coast of Jakarta, particularly near the airport.

Campaigns to promote the importance of the mangrove ecosystem are not lacking, with billboards and posters being put up in connection with the WOC. But even though the government is aware of this environmental issue, it has failed to transform concerns from the community level into an effective national program that would save the country’s mangrove ecosystem as a whole.

Conflict of interest among stakeholders, including nongovernment associations, and concerns of who gets credit for what have hampered progress, as well as other factors like population increase, pollution along coastal zones and in aquatic habitats, epidemics and catastrophes.

With some 60 percent of Indonesia’s total population living along the country’s coastlines, these areas have the highest concentration of people. The mangrove ecosystem, as well as coral reef and seagrass, breeds animal and plant life that provide basic resources to these communities. That means natural resources are being used up faster and in turn, opens these communities to social conflict.

Mangrove ecosystems offer food sources, serving as habitats for aquatic species that are being sold commercially and at the same time used by coastal communities as their primary source of income. If the government recognizes the potential that these ecosystems bring — both from the micro (employment opportunities for local communities) and the macro standpoints — it will do its best to maintain them. Which means the government wouldn’t just rely on the short-sighted vision of converting mangroves into tambak .

The commitment made in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 has its roots in the governing council of the United Nations Environmental Program, and its declaration of the need for concerted international action for effectively conserving the world’s biodiversity. Following this tact, new forms of international cooperation reflect the country’s growing awareness that the disappearing mangroves is not only an issue of losing a national treasure but more importantly, an issue of playing an important global role in maintaining ecological balance.

As a result of the commitment made during the Rio de Janeiro summit in 1992, the world has a stake in conserving the country’s mangrove forests. In other words, this is a concern of everybody. Stakeholders need to sit down and take the matter seriously; this ecosystem can’t simply be allowed to die away and fall into exploitative hands.

The future of life on this planet captured worldwide attention during the Earth Summit in 1992 when 155 nations and states, including the European Union, signed the Convention on Biological Diversity. Humanity has long deluded itself into thinking that the mangrove shortage merely reflected problems of storms and sea flooding. Indonesia is beginning to realize that mangroves are finite and vulnerable resources, an irreplaceable commodity that must be respected and preserved.

The Manado Ocean Declaration of the WOC should be strong enough to encourage an international commitment on mangroves that would save the planet and its coastal zones.

Sukristijono Sukardjo is a professor of mangrove ecology at the Center for Oceanological Research and Development at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.